A Friend in Need
by Mistress Tammy
Summary: Will Darien and Serena be able to help this mysterious woman from Darien's past?


**_A Friend in Need_**__

_By: Mistress Tammy_

_Author's Note- I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the original characters in Sailor Moon. I do however own my own character Elena, if you would like to borrow her please ask, I would be happy to share. All situations and plot lines for my story are entirely of my own making I apologize if they resemble anything that may already exist. Also please review my story; this is my first fan fic so any kind of helpful advice, good or bad, is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much and (hopefully) enjoy!_

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**Chapter One: A Peaceful Afternoon Shattered**

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"And where was this one taken?" Darien asked while pointing to a photo that showed Serena, aged 10, and her family standing in front of a small cottage with beautiful fall leaves all around. 

"Oh that was taken at my uncle's cottage in the mountains. We used to go up there every year to watch the leaves change colors, but then my dad and uncle got into this huge fight about something and we haven't been back since. Actually that picture was taken the last year we went up there." Serena looked up from the picture in Darien's hands and right into his crystal clear blue eyes. He looked at her exquisite face and reached out to touch her cheek with his hand. "Do I have something on my face?" Serena looked a little worried; this wouldn't be the first time that she had food stuck on her face from her last gorge session.

"No, I just can't believe how pretty you are; even when you were a little girl like in this picture you were so beautiful, almost like an angel." With that he reached under her chin and tilted her face up to his to receive his kiss. Just as he started to deepen the kiss though he suddenly broke it off and moved away from Serena further down the bench.

 "What's wrong?" Serena asked, looking at the photos that were scattered on the ground by Darien's sudden movement.

"Nothing…nothing." Darien mumbled as he bent down to gather the photos.  Serena noticed that he kept glancing over her shoulder and then quickly looking back down at the ground. She turned to see what was making him so uncomfortable. She knew that they had to be careful about being seen in public because she was still only 17 whereas Darien was already 23. What she saw was a tall, lithe woman walking toward them hurriedly. She was about 5' 10", with long wavy brown hair, ice blue eyes and small, square, silver glasses framing her face. She was wearing a simple white t-shirt with a red mini skirt that showed off her long legs and dancer's body. She also had a large purple bruise on the left side of her face as well as multiple bruises on her legs and arms, all in different stages of healing. Serena gasped as she got closer and she saw how bad the bruise on the side of her face really was. 

"Oh my God Darien I'm so glad I found you!" the woman exclaimed as she stood in front of the couple on the bench. "Please you have to help me, he'll find me soon, please?" 

"Elena, what happened to you?' Darien asked as he stood up and offered her his seat on the bench. "Did he do this?" Serena was surprised by the anger she heard in Darien's voice, she had never heard him sound like that before.

"Yes and if he finds me he'll do a lot worse, he found out about my audition and he went crazy! Please Darien you have to help me!" at this point tears had started to well up in Elena's eyes. Serena was surprised once again when Darien reached up and tenderly brushed them away and then enveloped the mysterious woman into his arms.

"Of course I'll help you, Elena. I won't let anything else happen to you I promise." Darien noticed that Serena was looking a bit confused at this point so he broke off his embrace with Elena and introduced them. "Serena this is Elena, she is in most of my classes at school. She was also at the same orphanage I was for a while. And Elena this is Serena, my girlfriend."

"Are you ok?" Serena asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"  She had only just met this woman and she even felt a little jealous of her but she still felt an intense need to help her in any way she could.

"I don't know, maybe, I don't know what to do anymore." At this point the beautiful woman burst into full on sobs and collapsed into Serena's arms and cried as if her heart was breaking. Feeling inadequate Serena could think of nothing to say to ease the woman's suffering so she patted her back and just let her cry, saying softly in her ear, "Don't worry we'll protect you." Serena looked over at Darien and was shocked to see pure rage clouding his normally handsome features.

"Come on let's go. We can't stay out here in the open, he might come looking for you and I don't want to say what I'd do to him if I see him right now." With that Darien pulled both Serena and Elena off the bench and put his arms around both of them, one on each side and quickly walked back to his apartment.  

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            Once inside Darien's immaculate, yet sparse apartment Elena excused herself to clean up in the bathroom. Serena took the opportunity to find out more about the sad beauty that had entered into their lives. "She was at the orphanage with you when you were little?" Serena prompted hoping that Darien would finally open up about his past, he had told here so very little. 

            "Yes, her mom died when she was born and her dad isn't the world's greatest person alive. He went to jail for 4 years for stealing a car when she was about 9, she stayed at the orphanage until he got out. She was so frightened when she first arrived, we became very good friends and then she went back to her dad when he got out." At this point Darien's voice was very low, almost a whisper, as he remembered the little girl that had meant so much to him when he was little. "I didn't see her after that until we met again at school last year. She is studying to become a ballerina; she is the most graceful dancer I have ever seen in my life. She doesn't even have to work at dancing, it comes naturally to her. Anyway her dad doesn't want her to dance, he wants her to stay with him forever and he knows that if she continues to dance she will become famous and leave him. He knows how good she is but he wants him all to himself." Darien's face again had fury written all over it as he spoke of Elena's father. "He is the one that hits her, he thinks that will keep her with him, but all it does is makes her want to leave even more." At this point Elena emerged from the bathroom.

            "Thank you so much Darien, you too Serena, I know you probably have better things to be doing than dealing with all of this, I'm sorry I ruined your day." As she spoke tears started to form in the corners of her eyes again. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to drag you into this. Maybe I should go." 

            "You aren't going anywhere! Sit down and let us help you!" Darien and Elena both looked shocked by the forcefulness in Serena's voice. "You haven't done anything wrong to deserve this and I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again!" Her voiced softened, "Darien told me a little bit about your situation, I hope that's ok?"

            "I don't mind, you have a right to know what's going on I suppose since I dragged you into this." Elena crossed the room and sat next to Serena on the bed. 

            "I know I can't do much, but I would still like to be able to help in any way I can." Serena reached over and hugged Elena with all her might. _I may not be able to do much as Serena the teenager but I can blast this guy as Sailor Moon, God help him if he crosses my path!_ Serena thought to herself.

            "So what set him off this time?" Darien asked as he pulled up a chair to the bed.

            "Well I have an audition tomorrow for the New York Ballet Company, its one of the best dance companies in the country and he doesn't want me to audition because he's afraid that I might get in and leave to tour with them. But it's such a great opportunity! They don't let just anybody audition, you have to have one of the dancers petition to get you an audition. Mark saw me dance at practice the other day when he was here visiting his cousin and he told me that he would get me an audition, I didn't think it would pan out but he came through and I couldn't believe it. He thinks that I will get in but I don't know a lot of people that have more training than I do can't even get auditions! I don't think I'll get in but I still want to say that I tried, if I can just stay away from Father until the audition I'll be ok." Elena voice lowered until Darien and Serena were straining to hear her. "He said that he would break my knee so that I couldn't dance anymore, not even for him. He said that if that was what it took to keep me with him than he would give up ever seeing me dance again. If I can just stay away from him until tomorrow I'll be safe. And if I don't get into the dance company I'll catch a bus to New York and try to find a troupe that will take me, but either way I'm never going back home again." Serena could hear the conviction enter into Elena's voice as she said those last few words. "I hate to ask this of you Darien, and you too Serena, but can I stay here? I know it's a bit awkward but I don't have anywhere else to go. He doesn't know about you Darien, I never talked about you to him so he doesn't know where you live. If I went to any of my other friends he would find me because he knows them. Please? Can I stay here?"

            "Of course you can, I would never turn you away when you need me, you know that." Darien answered. Serena was a bit shocked but said nothing, thinking to herself _She is going to stay here with MY Darien in this apartment ALONE over night?! How did this happen?!_ Outwardly though she just smiled and squeezed Elena's hand. "Serena why don't you stay as well? Tell your parents that you're staying at Amy's or Raye's and stay here. Elena may need a person a bit more sympathic than me to be with her tonight." Serena knew that Darien had seen the flash of envy on her face and that this was his way of assuring her that nothing was going to happen between him and Elena.

            "Ok, I'll talk to Amy and get her to cover for me, is that alright with you Elena? If I tell Amy just a little bit about your situation? She is totally trustworthy, and she may be able to help a little bit, she is very smart, a genius really." Serena glanced over at Darien and sent him silent thanks with her eyes and by his small smile she knew that he understood.

            "I guess that would be alright, but please don't go to any trouble for me, I hate to disrupt your lives like this. I feel like I'm imposing on you both too much. I don't want to do anything that would get you in trouble, you've been so nice." 

            "Nonsense, it's no trouble at all and we'll have some fun tonight! Why don't' we turn it into a movie night with popcorn and pizza? I think that will be fun and it will get your mind off of the events of today and your audition tomorrow. Ok?" Darien suggested.

            "Sounds good to me! I'll go home and get some things and talk to Amy and we'll run out and get some movies. We can have a pizza delivered later tonight. Elena I think it would be best if you stayed here for now, I don't want your dad to see you and do something stupid." Little did Serena know that Elena's father, Jim, had already seen them, in fact he had followed them from the park to Darien's apartment and he was just waiting for the right opportunity to get his daughter back. _Now that I know where you are I'll be back for you later tonight,_ he thought to himself as he headed home to his chair and vodka.

            "Come on Serena, I'll give you a ride home to get your stuff." Darien called as he started toward the door. "Elena lock the door and don't answer it, I don't care who they say they are. We'll be back in an hour or so."

            As they climbed into Darien's car Serena couldn't help but wonder if maybe Darien had asked her to stay the night because maybe he didn't trust himself to stay away from Elena, "You're wrong." 

            "What are you talking about Darien?"

            "I know what you are thinking and you're wrong. I didn't ask you to stay the night to keep me away from Elena; I do love her but as a friend only. Like I said we were very close at the orphanage but I'm not interested in her romantically, you are the only girl for me like that. You should know that by now." He leaned over and kissed Serena deeply before turning the car on and pulling into traffic. "I wanted you to stay tonight for her, I think her father followed us and knows where she is and I want Sailor Moon as well as Tuxedo Mask there to protect her."

            Serena, still blushing from the kiss, looked out the window and knew that Darien was hers forever and she was his forever. 

            Darien pulled up to the curb around the corner from Serena's house, "Go on, I'll wait here for you. I think your parents might be suspicious if they saw me drop you off and pick you up again." Serena jumped out of the car, blew Darien a kiss and started up the sidewalk, she hadn't gotten five feet away when she tripped and fell. Inside the car, Darien, who had been watching her in the rearview mirror, burst out laughing.            

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_Meanwhile_…Elena paced around the apartment; _I have to get my ballet things from the house. I wonder if I go now if Father will still be out looking for me. It's not far, just three blocks away, I can get my things and be back before Darien and Serena get back. _Her mind made up, Elena borrowed a jacket of Darien's, walked out the door and took the elevator down to the street. She was careful to look both ways to see if her father was lurking anywhere before walking swiftly down the street. As she neared her home she pulled the hood of the jacket over her face and hair and walked past her house to see if anyone was home. All looked quiet so she snuck up to the front door and tried to open it without a noise, she slipped inside and tip-toed down the hall past the living room where she saw her father passed out in his chair. She nearly fainted with fright when she saw him there but then she saw the empty bottle of vodka next to his chair and knew that even if she had stood next to him and banged two pots together, like she used to do when she was young, he would not wake up. 

She stealthily crept to her bedroom and opened the door, the mess she saw shocked her. Her father must have been very angry indeed for he had ripped her bedspread and sheets and flung her mattress against her desk. He had smashed her small TV and had pulled the tape out of her movies. He had shattered the mirror over her dresser into a million pieces. Her clothes were scattered around the room, some in shreds, the drawers to her bureau where pulled out and emptied and the clothes in her closet had been cut with scissors so that they couldn't be repaired. All of her books had been ripped up and what wasn't ripped had been soaked in water so as to make them worthless and unreadable. All of her CD's had been scratched and her stereo had been gutted and the speakers thrown against the wall. She rooted around in the mess until she found a leotard and tights that were undamaged and she pulled up the floorboard under her desk to retrieve her precious Pointe shoes. Thankfully she always took the precaution of hiding them from her father, ever since he had destroyed her first pair. Having all the things she would need for her audition she edged her way back out the door and shut it behind her, she then inched her way back down the hall to the front door. As she passed the living room she looked in to make sure her father hadn't moved from his chair and was devastated to find the chair empty! She quickly looked all around to try to locate him, then she heard water running to her right and darted into the kitchen just in time to miss being spotted by her father who emerged from the bathroom which was right next to where she had been standing. She didn't breathe from fear of being found. She waited until she heard the all too familiar creak of his chair and then until his breathing was regular. When she was convinced that he was sleeping she snuck out of the kitchen and to the front door. She opened the door as quietly as she could without it squeaking and slipped outside. She hurried up the street back toward Darien's apartment, her heart pounding each step of the way, she didn't breathe easy until she was back inside the apartment with the door double bolted. And even then she worried about the possibility of being followed.

            While Elena was having her adventure Darien was waiting for Serena to appear around the corner. _She is taking an awful long time in there. I don't want to leave Elena alone for too long._ Just then Serena came bounding around the corner at top speed, tripped on the same crack in the sidewalk as before, and jumped into the waiting car "Go! Quickly, I think my mom was coming after me. I didn't give her a very good explanation and I think she started out the door after me. Go!" Darien popped the clutch and dropped the Firebird into first gear and sped away from the curb the whole time nearly crying because he was laughing so hard.


End file.
